How to become a midwife or doula?
I already have a bachelors degree in elementary education. I am interested in a job that would be able to place me in the delivery room at a hospital. I love the idea of being there when a child would come into this world. Since I already have a degree (even though its not a nursing or science degree), what would be the process to become a midwife, doula, or any profession that would be in the delivery room? Grades are not a problem, Im not afraid of a challenge. I graduated with a 3.96 GPA....so just tell me what my options in the USA for a profession like this. (To be specific, I live in PA) Wow Jill, thank you for that information! Do you happen to know how much money a labor and delivery nurse would make? Also, I would just get a RN and hope for a job in the delivery room, or would I concentrate in something to assure that? Would an associates degree allow me to be a labor and delivery nurse, or only a bachelors? The bachelors wouldnt take me much longer, but it is more expensive.
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1 :
A doula is a labor support person. You can obtain certification through Doulas of North America (DONA) - see their website for details. There is no degree or anything you need to earn, just read their curriculum, take a two day seminar, then attend a certain number of births under the supervision of another doula. Your job is simply to support the laboring woman and help her articulate her needs to the medical staff, but you are not there to offer your input on what she should do, what choices she should make, or offer medical advice. You could go to nursing school and become a labor & delivery nurse. You need an RN license to do that. Since you hold a previous BS / BA you could get into an "accelerated BSN" or "post baccalaureate BSN" program and have your degree / license in as little as 18-24 months. No additional training is required, you get some education on maternal-newborn nursing in your nursing program, but then most of the training comes directly from the hospital during your orientation. Your role is both medical and supportive in nature. Your responsibilities are to keep the mother and baby safe and healthy. You essentially manage the whole laboring process by communicating with the doctor, doing fetal monitoring, making frequent assessments, keeping mother comfortable, providing a huge amount of education on the labor and birth process and delivery options, etc. You are present for the delivery and are responsible for stabilizing the mother and newborn immediately after delivery, which could mean performing neonatal resuscitation on a newborn in distress, or managing a severe maternal hemorrhage, etc. To be a Certified Nurse Midwife, you currently need a Master's Degree in Nursing, but soon it is changing over to needing a Doctorate of Nursing Practice. So that means extensive grad school after you've had at least a year working as a regular L&D RN. As a CNM you provide primary care in OB clinics, seeing patients for prenatal care as well as regular gyne-health for non-pregnant women. You attend deliveries at hospitals or licensed birth centers but you cannot attend home deliveries because of the strict regulations and scope of practice of nurses / midwives in most states. You cannot perform surgeries like c-sections or tubal ligations, etc. **Edited to add: There is nothing you can really do to assure yourself a job in L&D. L&D can sometimes be a hard specialty to get into, especially as a new graduate RN. You could see if you could get a summer nursing internship which is done the summer before your last year of nursing school, and try to get into an OB unit, which might help getting a job later. Otherwise many RNs who want to get into OB / L&D need to work in some other area, like regular medical / surgical units to gain some experience before they will be considered for an L&D position. This is what I had to do. I hated every minute of working in cardiac med/surg, but I knew it was a means to an end and I would get into L&D eventually if I was persistent. You can work in L&D with only an Associate's Degree in Nursing. I would still strongly encourage you to find an accelerated BSN because you'd be in school for the same amount of time as if you went through an ADN program, so you might as well have the higher degree in the end. Some hospitals do say in their job ads that they do prefer BSN grads, but don't let that stop you from applying if you only have the ADN, they can't always hold out for a BSN grad. And as for salary, the specialty you work in within a hospital does not affect your salary, hospital based RN salaries are based on your years of experience in the profession. An L&D RN is not worth more or less than an OR or ER or med/surg or psych RN. New grad wages might be anywhere from $20-$35 per hour, depending on where you work and what shift you work (night shift pays differentials of sometimes up to 5-7 dollars more per hour in some cases.) Full benefits packages to hospital nurses are often offered to part time nurses, my hospital offers it for half-time status (20 hrs per week).
2 :
Jill gave you excellent information. I do not know the legal status of non-nurse midwives in Pennsylvania, but given the large amount of Amish that reside there and give birth at home, being a Certified Professional Midwife might be something to consider, as well. You can find out more information on training and education for midwives at www.mana.org (Midwives Alliance of North America) and www.meacschools.org (Midwifery Education Accreditation Council). Also, "Midwifery Today", a professional journal for all midwives, has a great set of books/journals you can get for aspiring midwives that put all educational paths in perspective for you. Best wishes!
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